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Aikido Dojos in or near Cergy, Pontoise, Montpellier, and Rennes France

Hi to all.I have a French student in our dojo, who got promoted recently to 5th kyu, and he wants to continue his aikido practice when he goes to France this coming July. We will be giving his 4th kyu exam before going there, if he continues to practice in our dojo regularly. He wants to know if there are any aikido dojos in these places in France: Cergy Pontoise, Montpellier, and Rennes? I am aware that there are more French aikidokas compared to Japanese aikidokas and I think there will be a dojo in these places that I have mentioned. He will be staying on one of these places and will be there permanently to continue his studies. Actually he's half-French and half-Filipino,he really is interested in aikido, and regularly practices in our dojo here in the Philippines. Will really appreciate your assistance. Gambatte.

Re: Aikido Dojos in or near Cergy, Pontoise, Montpellier, and Rennes France

Quote:

Reyne Caritativo wrote:

Hi to all.I have a French student in our dojo, who got promoted recently to 5th kyu, and he wants to continue his aikido practice when he goes to France this coming July. We will be giving his 4th kyu exam before going there, if he continues to practice in our dojo regularly. He wants to know if there are any aikido dojos in these places in France: Cergy Pontoise, Montpellier, and Rennes? I am aware that there are more French aikidokas compared to Japanese aikidokas and I think there will be a dojo in these places that I have mentioned. He will be staying on one of these places and will be there permanently to continue his studies. Actually he's half-French and half-Filipino,he really is interested in aikido, and regularly practices in our dojo here in the Philippines. Will really appreciate your assistance. Gambatte.

It was quite a while ago, but I recall having a good experience at Daniel Toutain Sensei's dojo in Rennes when I visited for a couple of classes. I only had an independent grade of 5th kyu at the time from my university club, but everyone took good care of me and Toutain Sensei was very kind.

Re: Aikido Dojos in or near Cergy, Pontoise, Montpellier, and Rennes France

Cergy and Pontoise seem to be suburbs north of Paris, according to Google maps, unless there's more than one. There should be a number of dojos in and around Paris (Aikido is pretty popular in France). I was near there last year and quite enjoyed practicing at the Cercle Tissier http://www.christiantissier.com/cercle_tissier.html, Christian Tissier's dojo in Vincennes (a suburb to the east of Paris). I also attended a (IMHO) great seminar with this guy http://www.aikido-benezi.com/dojo.html. Of course YMMV, different people look for very different things in Aikido!

I found when I visited France that even very small towns often had Aikido dojos. Of course like anywhere there are different styles and teachers and training environments and quality, so sometimes it ends up being worthwhile to travel a bit further to find a dojo. But I'm sure your student will have no problem finding a dojo, his problem will more likely be choosing which one or ones to train at.

Re: Aikido Dojos in or near Cergy, Pontoise, Montpellier, and Rennes France

many of the dojo's in France are not listed because they're in public schools etc...

if a teacher is a member of an accredited (by the govt.) organization they can use public facilities like public schools, which often have mats... there seemed to be classes in every neighborhood in Paris. I'm not sure that they wouldn't necessarily be listed in the aikiweb listings